Construction toy



Sept. 3, 1946. B. R. -GLUKES CONSTRUCTION TOY Filed July 31, 1945 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 BERNARD RAPHAEL GLUKES,

INVENTOR P 4 B. R. GL'UKES' 2, 06, 59

w CONSTRUCTION TOY I Filed July 31, 1945 2 Sheets-Shee t 2 INVENTOR rro NEY} BERNARD RAPHAEL GLUKES, I

Patented Sept. 3, i946 2 UNITED STATE 5 PATENT OFFICE CONSTRUCTION TOY Bernard Raphael Glukes, Los Angeles, Calif., as-

signor to The Kinney Company, Los Angeles, Calif., a corporation of California Application July 31, 1945, Serial No. 608,068

7 4 Claims.

My invention relates to toys and has particular reference to construction toys employing a plurality of identical pieces which may be assembled together to form different designs or patterns dependent upon the manner in which the several pieces are associated with each other.

It is an object of my invention to provide a toy in which a plurality of pieces of identical shape are employed, each of the pieces having parallel front and rear sides and having peripheral edges formed in geometrical designs including alternating projections and recesses of generally circular configuration by, which two of the pieces may be assembled togetherby inserting the projection of one piece in a recess of the other piece.

Another object of my invention is to provide a toy of the character described in the preceding Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a construction toy unit or piece constructed in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view of a portion of each of a pair of units or pieces suchas is illustrated in Fig. 1 and illustrating the manner in paragraph in which the peripheral edge of each 4 of the pieces defines a plurality of sides, each of which includes one projection and one recess whereby other pieces may be assembled with the same at any one of the sides.

, Another object of my invention is to provide a toy of the character described in which the circular recesses extend through an are slightly.

gether to thereby facilitate the interconnecting of a plurality of pieces at various angles relative to each other. 7

Another object of my invention is to provide a toy 0f the character described in which, in addition to the projections and recesses formed upon the peripheral edge, there is a central square opening formed from front to back of each of the pieces, each side of the square being equal in length to the diameter of the projections upon the periphery to thereby permit assembly of two pieces with their front faces disposed at a right angle to each other.

Other objectsand advantages of my invention will .be apparent from a, study of the following specifications, read in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein a which the pieces may be disposed at different angles relative to each other after assembly;

Fig. 3 is an elevational view of a pair of units or pieces such as is illustrated in Fig. 1, assembled together with their front faces disposed at right angles to each other;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a pattern which may be formed by the assembly of a plurality of the pieces illustrated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of another example of pattern which may be formed by the assembly of pieces such as is illustrated in Fig. 1;

Fig. dis a plan view of a modified shape of construction toy unit or piece; and

Fig. 7 is a transverse sectional view taken along line VIIVII of Fig. 6.

Referring to the drawings, I have illustrated in Fig. 1 a typical construction toy unit or piece embodying my invention as comprising a block of suitable material such as metal, plastic, wood or the like having its front face I disposed parallel to its rear face 2 and having its peripheral edge indicated generally at 3 formed with a geometrical pattern which includes a plurality of projections 4 and recesses 5.

The unit or piece is preferably formed in such fashion that its peripheral edge defines a plurality of sides, each of which is provided with one projection and one recess, the form illustrated herein showing four sides providing four projections and four recesses alternating with each other.

The projections 4 are generally circular in configuration, the arc defined by the projection being considerably in excess of so as to provide a projection comprising a portion of a cylinder adapted to be received in one of the recesses 3 of another piece of identical construction with which it is to be assembled.

The recesses 3 are likewise generally circular in configuration and extend through an arc of just slightly more than 180 so that when the projection 4 of one piece is inserted into a recess 3 of another piece, as by pressing the projection of one piece in a front to back motion in the recess of another piece, the projections and recesses will interlock the two pieces.

It will be apparent of course that the diameters of the circular configuration of each of the pro-' jections and eachofthe recesses must be equal so as to provide a substantially friction-tight interfitting of adjacent pieces.

By referring particularly to Fig. 1, it will be noted that the junction between each of the projections 4 and its adjacent recess 3 is defined by a shoulder B which, in view of the fact that the arc defined by the circular configuration of each of the projections is in excess of 180", will act as a stop when one piece is rotated relative to another piece after assembly, as illustrated particularly in Fig, 2 wherein one of the pieces A with its projection 4 has been inserted into the recess 5 of an adjacent piece B and then rotated through an angle indicated at C.

By forming each of the projections considerably in excess of 180 of a circle, considerable latitude of relative rotating movement is permitted between adjacent pieces as may be required for the assembly of a plurality of the pieces in a circular pattern such as that shown in Fig. 4 wherein the diameter of the circular pattern is relatively small and yet by providing the'abutting shoulders 6 at each side of the recess 5 (and at each side of the adjacent projection i) the extent of such rotary movement is definitely limited. 7

By employing a plurality of identically shaped construction toy units or pieces such as heretofore described, they may be assembled in a substantially infinite variety of pleasing patterns which, b reason of the interlocking of the projections and recesses of the pieces and the frictional fit between them, will retain or fix the pattern assembled.

To add additional variety to the patterns which may be formed from the units or pieces, I prefer to provide an opening 1 extending from front to back of each piece at the center thereof, the opening '5 being adapted to receive a projection 4 of another piece and hence each side of the square opening should be formed with a length equal to the diameter of the circular configuration of the projections 4. Also it will be noted from an in" spection of Fig. 3 that the thickness of the piece from front to back should be substantially equal to th diameter of the circle defined by each of the projections 4 to insure that the entire projection ma be received within the opening 31,

Thus by forming the thickness of the piece and the diameters of each of the projections l of the same length, two pieces may be assembled tot? gether by the insertion of the projection of one of the pieces into the square opening I of another piece in either of two vertical planes disposed at right angles to each other and thus many additional variations of pattern are permitted in which portions of the pattern are formedby one or more pieces assembled together with th front faces of such piece or pieces disposed in one plane and this group of pieces may be assembled upon one or more other pieces which are in turn assembled together with their front faces disposed in a plane extending at right angles to the first named plane.

Still other varieties of patterns may be formed by assembling a group of units or pieces with their front faces disposed in one plane and then attaching a plurality of additional pieces to the first group by interconnecting the projections of such latter pieces with the square openings in the pieces of the first group to define branches of the pattern which extend in various planes disposed at various angles to the plane of the first group.

While the construction toy units or pieces as hereinbefore described may be manufactured by any well known process,rit is particularly desir- 4 able that the pieces should be capable of being molded from either metal or suitable plastic. However, in View of the fact that the projections and recesses must be formed with suificient uniform accuracy as to permit the ready assembly of the pieces with each other, any appreciable shrinkage which might occur during the molding process becomes a serious problem to overcome.

In Figs. 6 and 7 I have illustrated a modification of the shape of the construction toy units or pieces wherein the arms of the pieces, upon the ends of which the projections are formed, are provided with recesses 8 extending from both the front and rear surfaces of the piece, the recesses being generally oval in shape, with the major axis extending along the longitudinal axis of the arm while the depth of each of the depressions is preferably equal to at least one-third of the total thickness of the piece from front to rear surface.

By employing such depressions, it will be apparent that the total volume of material from which the unit or piece is molded is materially reduced and that the arms of the piece which would otherwise contain the major portion of the volume of the material from which the piece is molded are thereby sufliciently reduced in volume that the shrinkage of the molded material is so materially reduced as to become a negligible factor.

In addition, the depressions 8 provide an additional adornment for the pieces which considerably enhances the appearance of the pieces and adds considerable attractive beauty to the individual pieces and to the particular patterns which are formed by the assembly of several of the pieces together.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, I do not desire to be limited to any of the details of construction shown and described herein, except as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a construction toy, a plurality of identical pieces adapted to be assembled together, each of said pieces comprising a block of material having parallel front and rear faces and a peripheral edge formed along a geometrical pattern which includes a plurality of sides, each side.

having a substantially circular projection and a substantially circular recess of equal diameters, each of said recesses defining an arc of a circle slightly in excess of and each of said projections defining an arc of a circle considerably in excess of 180 whereby assembly of the .two

, pieces together by insertion of one piece into the recess of another piece will permit substantial relative rotary movement between the two pieces while holding the pieces interlocked with each other.

2. In a construction toy, a plurality of identical pieces adapted to be assembled together, each of said pieces comprising a block of material having parallel front and rear faces and a peripheral edge formed along a geometrical pattern which includes a plurality of sides, each side having a 3. In a construction toy, a plurality of identical pieces adapted to be assembled together, each of said pieces comprising a block of material having parallel front and rear faces and a peripheral edge formed along a geometrical pattern which includes a plurality of sides, each side having a substantially circular projection and a substantially circular recess of equal diameters whereby assembly of the pieces may be accomplished by inserting a projection of one piece into a recess of an adjacent piece, each of said pieces having a square opening extending from the front to the rear face of the piece at the center thereof, each side of the square defined by the opening being equal in length to the diameter of the circle defined by each of .the projections, and each of said pieces having a thickness from thefront face to the rear face equal to the diameter of 6 4. In a construction toy, a plurality of identical pieces adapted to be assembled together, each of said pieces comprising a block of material having parallel front and rear faces and a peripheral edge formed along a geometrical pattern which includes a plurality of legs extending radially from the center of the iece, each of the legs terminating in a substantially circular projection, said peripheral edge defining a substantially circular recess between each adjacent pair of legs for interlocking reception on the projection on another of the pieces, and depressions formed in the front and rear faces of the block in each of the legs to reduce the volume of material in each of the leg portions of the piece.

BERNARD RAPHAEL GLUKES. 

